[stephengillie]

In the USA, magnetic swipe readers are EVERYwhere. And the collection of credit and debit networks connect every reader with almost every bank. It "just works" everywhere, and it's "impossible" for a retailer to be unable to connect to your bank.

-Chip-and-pin? The card reader probably can't read it.

-Apple/Google wallet and similar services? The card reader probably doesn't have an antenna for it. (Especially small retailers who can't afford the special card reader)

-NFC Visa/Mastercard? The card reader probably doesn't have an antenna for it.

-Paypal? Most retailers aren't set up for it. That's why Paypal issues magnetic cards in the USA.

-Paper checks? Most retailers don't want to lose money on the possibility of fraud. And most card readers can't auto-ACH a check.

[mbreese]

Mag stripe readers are everywhere, but the banks have already started migrating over to chip and pin cards (with mag-stripe for backwards compatibility) for new issues. There are still older cards out there that won't expire for probably ~5 years or so, so I expect to see mag stripe readers around for at least that long. But it's fair to call it deprecated, even in the US.

However, the transition is coming to the US sooner rather than later. Banks want to see this transition happen quickly so that they can reduce fraud rates. Merchants that don't want to spend money on new terminals will be prodded along by the banks pushing fraud liability over to them.

This all ultimately means that this iteration of the Coin Card (mag-stripe only) has a pretty limited shelf life.

[dandelany]

I keep hearing this, but I got a new Capital One card in the mail literally 2 weeks ago, and still no chip. Same with my Schwab card which is < a year old. I don't get it. (I live in New York FWIW)

[stephengillie]

If my bank (credit union) has transitioned to chip-and-pin, they have done so without telling me.

The cards they issue are pressed at the main branch; I had to wait while they printed my latest card. The process they use to print doesn't emboss the card - the little numbers don't stick up - and as such they have nearly rubbed off from the card.

I got that most recent card in September of 2012, and it's already wearing out; the magnetic stripe hasn't been reliable for 6 months, and the numbers are so worn off the front that cashiers have trouble hand-entering it. It doesn't even have the Mastercard NFC antenna.

I really, really doubt that most of the USA's banks are anywhere near ready for a transition.

[mbreese]

I got a new card (2 years early) to replace a card with an NFC chip. This was Wells Fargo, so bigger than a credit union. I got the replacement, but my wife didn't. I originally had an NFC card, whereas she didn't. I think that the fact that the first NFC translation in a long time was made a few weeks earlier at an airport may have had something to do with the timing.

Regardless, the changeover has already started. It may take a few years to be complete, but the writing is on the wall.

[tallanvor]

Some small banks will take longer than others to get ready, but many have already started sending out cards with chips when it's time for you to get a new one.

The silly thing is that the US is mostly standardizing on chip and signature, which means that if your card is stolen, it's still easy for criminals to use it until you're able to block it.

[CaptainZapp]

From October the merchant is responsible for fraud if the card has no chip and he accepts it.

Be prepared for a lot of merchants not willing to take that risk and to decline your card if it has a mag stripe only.

[Domenic_S]

Yep, my latest Amex came with a chip, and when I tried to swipe the mag strip at WalMart (don't you judge me) the reader actually said "Must insert card" which was really confusing until I noticed it had a chip reader. Pretty cool.

[joezydeco]

Target has very quietly replaced all of their terminals with chip/pin readers. It looks like they started shortly after their huge data breach, which makes sense.

[scintill76]

At least when I researched about a year ago, it's uncommon to get a true chip-and-PIN in the US. Most of the chips are chip-and-signature.

[stephengillie]

How is chip-and-signature different from the current policy where the buyer (sometimes, decreasingly) has to sign for credit purchases?

[scintill76]

I think it's just that it's more resistant to card cloning. The payment terminal makes the chip authenticate itself in some way that run-of-the-mill carders with a card printer and magstripe writer can't counterfeit. I guess the chip or the payment network then request the cardholder's signature, rather than the PIN that chip-and-PIN use.

[jules]

It's the same in Europe. You can pay everywhere with any debit card. These cards have both a magnetic strip and a chip. The readers have a slot for reading with the strip and reading with the chip. Most shops have taped the magnetic strip slot shut because it's deemed insecure. Indeed, the only reason that Coin works at all is that magnetic strips can be easily copied, also by criminals with fake readers, or criminals who put a small card copy gadget in front of the reading slot of an ATM machine, along with a camera to capture your pin code.

Then again, the whole credit card system which is popular in the US is even more hilariously insecure (you only need a picture of the card!!) and it doesn't seem to have stopped anyone.

[scintill76]

The fraud aspect doomed Coin (and probably the similar competitors) from the start, IMO. It either wouldn't catch on (in part due to fraud or fear of fraud). If it did take off initially, we'd enter a carders' utopia where fraud would be easy because merchants would swipe any magstriped gadget without blinking, which would kill Coin when the card networks clamped down. And regardless, it basically only works in the US, where the clock is ticking towards the death of magstripes -- though I guess if they sell tens of thousands of magstripe Coins before that happens, they don't care.

It may be useful for loyalty cards, but even that has similar problems with the cashier being confused/skeptical, or just the hassle of talking about it when you just want to finish your transaction and leave. Apple Pay has apparently opened the way for loyalty cards over NFC[1], so hopefully that will keep spreading both in merchant numbers and availability on other mobile platforms.

[1] http://9to5mac.com/2015/06/10/verifone-apple-pay-loyalty-car...